40 Health Lessons from 40 Years…
At 25 years old I was diagnosed with skin cancer. The idea of having to live in fear of skin cancer for the rest of my life was devastating.
It also struck me as odd because I had no obvious risk factors; no family history, other cancer indicators, or excessive sunbathing habits.
This inspired me to question everything I knew about being healthy and I started to realize several other things weren’t quite right.
I had actually been tired for a long time and was feeling uncomfortable in my body. My seasonal allergies grew increasingly worse every year, and around this same time, I had an ear infection that took me out for days.
I struggled to keep my eyes open in the afternoon at work (even after downing a double Americano from Starbucks loaded with inflammatory dairy creamer and artificial no-calorie sweeteners, of course).
Plus, no matter how much I dieted or exercised, I struggled with weight. Even after training for fitness competitions with extreme diet and exercise routines, my weight was unruly.
Overall, I was experiencing more aches, pains, and migraines.
Despite all of this, I was one of the healthiest people I knew. After all, I studied fitness, nutrition, and health in college; it’s what I got a degree in. I was “doing all the healthy things” we’ve always been told to do.
My blood work always came back “normal”, and doctors always said I was the picture of perfect health wishing all patients were more like me.
It became clear that there is more to health than just diet and exercise.
So, I became a “health detective,” looking for the missing pieces of my health puzzle to provide answers for the unexplained health issues I was living with. That’s when the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® Course fell into my lap, giving me access to the right lab tests and resources needed to turn things around.
As I dug deeper into the physiological aspects of my health, I found A LOT of cellular damage, hormone imbalances, and gut dysfunction – the perfect storm for cancer, allergies, weight gain, joint pain, and everything else I had been experiencing.
This also set me on a trajectory to explore how these scenarios came to be in the first place.
Armed with the knowledge I have now, I can clearly see how my health issues didn’t start in my 20’s—they were an accumulation of choices and events that happened throughout my entire life.
Now I thoroughly understand that ideal weight and health is about so much more than just working out and eating right “most” of the time.
With this new perspective on health, not only have I been able to remain skin cancer-free since my original diagnosis but I’ve also:
- Restored my energy levels
- Regulated my weight at an ideal place
- Reversed my Hashimotos and thyroid imbalances
- Eliminated seasonal allergies and joint pain
- Achieved regular, pain-free, easy periods after getting off birth control
- Healed from toxic mold exposure and all its side effects
As I turn 40 this month, I feel healthier, stronger, energized, and more comfortable in my body than ever.
To celebrate, I’ll be frolicking in a bathing suit for a week in Maui and then jet-setting for a girl’s weekend in Paris!
Being in good health matters. It allows us to live life to the fullest.
For the longest time, I settled for less in my life than what I deserved because of sub-optimal health. I was stuck in survival mode, and I have vowed to never allow that to happen again.
Life is way too short to settle—to be less than who you are meant to be.
In this week’s video and blog, I share 40 of the most important weight-changing, health-optimizing, and life-altering lessons I’ve learned that have led me to feel like my best self at 40 so you can feel your best too.
Your time on this Earth is too short to not take control of your health and live your best life. Taking care of your health is no longer negotiable.
It’s not only about looking good in a bathing suit, being a specific size, or pain-free, bloat-free, etc. Yes, those are nice side effects, but they are only superficial.
It’s really about things like …
… never hesitating to say “yes” to an adventure.
… having the energy to keep going even when you thought you couldn’t.
… confidently standing strong in the truth of who you are and who you want to be.
… being physically fit, so you can do almost anything.
… having the ability to rescue yourself or someone else in an emergency situation.
… traveling to the ends of the Earth and exploring everything this life has to offer.
Being in good health means you are limitless.
As I enter my 40s, I am the healthiest version of myself that I have ever been. I’ve completely turned my health around, changed my destiny, and made the ‘impossible’ possible.
I want you to know that you can do it, too.
Here are 40 of the most important weight-changing, health-optimizing, and life-altering lessons I’ve learned to help you…
- Figure out what foods are right for your body.
- There’s a difference between eating healthy and right for your body.
- Eating right for your body will include healthy foods … but not every healthy food is right for your body.
- You are unique therefore the best diet for you will be too.
- STOP counting calories – it’s an outdated approach to weight loss and health.
- The quality of YOUR food matters more than you think.
- You have to get healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to get healthy.
- There are WAY MORE pieces to your health puzzle than diet and exercise.
- We have to learn to value sleep more than diet and exercise.
- The most critical time to be asleep is from 10 PM to 4 AM.
- Every hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of rest! (hello 9 pm bedtime)
- Less intense exercise can produce better results.
- Let go of your rigid workout routine. Choose the best type of exercise each day based on what your body needs.
- Don’t dismiss water damage, mold exposure is serious.
- Hormonal birth control options aren’t solutions, they are stealth hormone disruptors.
- Don’t settle for anything less than what you deserve.
- Question EVERYTHING.
- Current health issues are an accumulation of things over time, therefore it will take time to heal.
- Stress is ANYTHING that places a burden on your body, resulting in inflammation and dysfunction.
- Understanding the burden of stress your body is under at any point and taking action to reduce it is the key to feeling your best always.
- To understand the burden of stress, you have to slow down, tune in to your body, and be present in the here and now.
- Tight muscles and bones out of alignment add structural stress to the body – proactively get regular body work done, and don’t wait until it feels bad.
- Your body wants to be in balance if you’ll let it.
- Gut health is a cornerstone of your overall health, so trust and support it.
- We can’t always see, hear, feel, or smell toxins but they are all around us.
- Reducing toxin exposures is essential for rebuilding and maintaining health.
- Love your liver, it’s working harder than ever in this modern toxic world.
- Life happens. Learning to navigate it will help you feel like your best self.
- Your body will do anything you ask it to, but that doesn’t mean you should.
- Genetics doesn’t determine your health destiny, your lifestyle choices do.
- “Healthy” is a way of being, not just doing.
- Health is a relationship between you, your body, AND your mind.
- You can’t out-supplement, out-diet, or out-exercise a busy lifestyle or overworked body.
- Health is a journey. It will change direction as you learn more, and you will evolve with it, so don’t get frustrated
- Be patient with your body and hold space for the potential for change.
- What you think is healthy might look different once you understand your body better.
- Every choice you make can support or suppress your health.
- When you face fear, you let go of old stories that have been holding you back.
- To be fearless in your health is to believe that no matter what comes your way, you will find a way to thrive.
- You have to become your own health boss to be in control of your health.
Which one(s) of these lessons stood out to you the most?
Comment below to let me know!
P.S. Everything you need to solve your health problems lies within you. Your body holds all the answers, and they are just waiting to be discovered.
Know that the health and aging concerns you have today are not your destiny. They are an accumulation of things that have happened over your lifetime, which have slowly chipped away at that “feel good” feeling until you barely recognize yourself anymore.
I encourage you to explore as many of the lessons I’ve shared as possible to help you find the missing pieces of your health puzzle so you can get back to feeling like your best self again (or for the very first time).
